During perestroika, the Soviet government encouraged media to foster closer ties with citizens, leading to unprecedented reader engagement and evolving perceptions of press independence. In this June 1988 issue of the national weekly Literaturnaia gazeta, a reader objects to the editors’ choice to send a copy of his letter to the Party Central Committee.

The front cover of Glasnost. Information Bulletin from 1987, along with the Editor’s introduction to the first issue. One the first self-published journals to be released during perestroika, Glasnost was an early instance of the fledgling independent late-Soviet press. 

A 1987 speech by Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022) on the significance of his signature policy, perestroika.